Austin Richardson

Voices

Marking the miles along the road

If I have noticed anything in people, it is that they tend to use relationships and love interests as milestones and reference points when they speak about their pasts.

By May 3, 2007

Voices

Carrying on: One word, just one word: plastics

Last Friday, I finally grasped that nothing I do will cure the undercurrent of stress and anxiety caused by my impending graduation and the future. Browsing through a New York Times blog called The Graduates during a break from the online job postings, I hoped to find a grain of truthful guidance through this agonizing transition. But I only found proof of the ubiquitous, undying nature of this malaise.

By April 12, 2007

Voices

Carrying on: The tale of the enchanted rock

Sometime during my first year in the Boy Scouts, I went on a hike and never came back. I wasn’t alone; perhaps five other kids and an adult scoutmaster set off with me early that morning. It was meant to be a five-miler and we were supposed to be back by lunchtime. I wasn’t found until one in the morning.

By March 15, 2007

Voices

Carrying on: A desperate woman knocks

My dad and I had just sat down to a spaghetti dinner when the pounding on the door began. It was furious and incessant, as if someone were trying to knock the door down. My dad hurriedly shuffled to the door and opened it a crack. A screaming woman forced her arm through the opening and the rest of her body followed. Someone, she said, was trying to kill her. Running over, I caught a glimpse of the snowy moonlit expanse outside the front door. There, wild, noble-looking and gray, stood a Siberian Husky. The door slammed shut, and my dad twisted the deadbolt into place.

By February 15, 2007

Voices

Carrying On: Life and death in the fast lane

If you’ve ever fallen asleep at the wheel, you know what a bewildering experience it is to wake up. And if you survive, and bring your car to a safe stop, those moments of terror recede into something between a dream and a memory.

By January 25, 2007

Voices

Carrying On: From the sidelines: across the desert and far away

Last Thursday, during halftime of the Men’s basketball game against Oregon, ten individuals—men and women—filed onto the court. Some walked with a limp, some with a cane, all were veterans of the Iraq war. Most of them looked to be in their early 20s. I distinctly remember one of them, a young man with crutches and a missing leg.

By December 7, 2006

Features

The grass is always greener

Caitlin Pedati (NHS ’07) said that when she moved into her house on the 3300 block of Prospect St. this summer with five other girls, dead roaches littered the floor and the interior needed cleaning and repainting. “I don’t think the house was safe when we moved in,” Pedati said. “I easily put a grand into cleaning and fixing up things.”

The girls found paper towels under a radiator and cracked or missing tiles on the kitchen and bathroom floors. There were no ground wires for electricity, and none of the fire alarms worked. The only fire extinguisher downstairs was “ancient,” Pedati said. “It’s been an absolutely miserable experience. “

By November 2, 2006

Voices

Breaking down the barriers

Five beers into the night, I stood bewildered in the corner of the Plaza de Armas.

By October 12, 2006

Voices

The death of the journalistic dream

A few summers ago, I was asked to write obituaries for living people. Once written, they would sit in a file somewhere, waiting patiently for their subjects’ numbers to come up.

By September 21, 2006

News

New Wisey’s: kid-approved

Low carb meals, wicker chairs and smoothies may not sound like Wisemiller’s Deli, but a second branch of the local favorite has been open for almost two weeks at 1440 Wisconsin Ave.

By August 31, 2006